Midnight Teachings
by MadameHyde
Summary: As a show of good faith, the other Great Nations have allowed Sunagakure to host this year's chūnin exams. But when a sandstorm keeps a certain set of Konoha shinobi from leaving the entrance ceremony venue, they find their own way to pass the time. But can this cobbled-together group from Konoha, and their counterparts from Suna, really begin to understand each other at all?
1. The Ten o'clock Hour

**Hello everyone! :) MadameHyde here, and this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while. So, I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I did (and do!) writing. :)**

**Also, yeah, I had to fudge some things in order to make this work, so please, just sit back and enjoy the (slightly inaccurate) show.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**-)**

"Excuse me, Kazekage-sama, but may I have a word with you in private?"

The young Kage blinked twice, the only thing that gave away his surprise. He nodded. "Of course." He stood gracefully, and extended his hands to his companions sitting at the table with him. "Ladies, gentlemen, if you would excuse me."

The murmurs of "Of course, Kazekage-sama." followed them out of the main room and into a deserted hallway.

The Kage faced his old sensei-turned-councilman and habitually folded his arms across his sternum. There were times, the councilman thought, that the boy was too young for this job. He still remembered the petulant, adolescent genin with the Tanuki-like, black rings around his eyes, the messy auburn hair, and the general aura of a furiously intense individual. Sure, the Kage still had these things, but he was older now, closer to being a man than to being a boy, and there was no longer such a homicidal undertone to it all—he loved his people too much, and more importantly, loved to spite the demon sealed within him too much. The people, however, simply would never be unafraid of him; not after all he had done as a child. It was a more difficult burden for him on some days more so than others, but if there was one thing that the Kage's family was well known for, it was the inability to retreat or accept defeat.

"What is it, Baki-san?" the young Kage asked quietly, so as not to be overhead.

The councilman cleared his throat carefully. "Kazekage-sama, we've discovered a bit of a… _problem."_

The young Kage quirked a non-existent eyebrow, making the kanji on his forehead stretch. "Oh? What sort of problem?"

"I think you'd better come with me…"

Meanwhile, back in the main room, the party was still in full swing. The architecture of Sunagakure lent itself to sandy domes, looping columns, and powerful archways, and the main hall of the Kazekage's residence was no exception to this. Not that any of the occupants of the hall were doing anything so mundane as looking at the architecture. Gods above and below, they may live in the desert, but Sand Shinobi knew how to _party._

And that was, essentially, what these chūnin exams began with. It was a show of good faith on the part of the other Great Nations to allow this year's exams to take place in Sunagakure, given what had happened the _last time _their shinobi had participated. But, there was a new Kazekage (never mind that he had been the cornerstone of the incident that happened _the last time), _and he was out to prove his nation's loyalty and honesty by any and all means necessary.

Even if it meant hosting the entrance ceremony in his own home.

"It looks like all the best have come out, 'ey?" commented a Shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist to his newfound friend from the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The second shinobi nodded. He was not quite a boy and not yet a man, with whisker-like markings on his cheeks, bright eyes the color of the open sea at high noon, and a head of messy blond hair that was barely restrained by his Shinobi headband. "It sure does," he agreed.

Privately, Naruto Uzumaki lamented that he would be unable to participate in the chūnin exams this year. He had left on a three-year-long training walkabout with his master Jiraiya, the legendary sannin and even-more-legendary pervy sage earlier this year, but had managed to convince his master to at least stop _by _the chūnin exams in Sunagakure. His friends were all here, didn't you know pervy sage, and what kind of shinobi would he be if he weren't there to cheer them on, even for just a little while? Even Shikamaru Nara was going to be there, and he'd already _made_ chūnin! Jiraiya had sighed massively and muttered something under his breath about how the Wind Nation had better have pretty girls.

"Do you know any of the others from the Leaf Village?" the Mist shinobi asked, almost shy in his blatant attempts to ferret out information.

But Naruto only laughed. "Yeah, believe it! Those are some of my best friends you're going up against. Tough shinobi, each and every one. See him?" Naruto gestured to one of the larger boys in his graduating class, the one with the unruly brown hair, animalistic features, and the red fang markings of the Inuzuka Clan on his cheeks. Said boy was currently talking to a nameless Sand Shinobi, while a white, adolescent nin-dog paced the floor at their feet. "That's Kiba Inuzuka. He's terrifying in a fight—makes me glad he's on my side!

"And him?" Naruto gestured again, this time to a shinobi who was caught between boyhood and manhood, like he was. This shinobi, however, had an almost regal bearing, alongside pupil-less lavender eyes, long brown hair kept in a low ponytail, and a Leaf Village forehead protector actually worn across his forehead. "That's Neji Hyūga. They call him a prodigy, and that Byakugan…" Naruto shuddered at the memory of facing off against Neji. "…scary-good.

"And her?" He gestured this time to a pink-haired girl with vibrant green eyes, a quick smile and the temper to match, and a hand firmly attached to the kunai holster on her thigh to ward off the guy flirting with her a tad too openly for her taste. "Sakura Haruno. She doesn't look like much, I know, but she was on my team. And she's _scary _when she's angry.

"And her?" He gestured to a petite kunoichi with brown hair twisted into two buns on either side of her head at the crown, a wide smile, and the posture and composure of someone who is good at what they do and aware of it, albeit in a good-natured fashion. "That's Tenten. She's great with shuriken and kunai, and can even go toe-to-toe with Neji Hyūga! And him…?" Naruto began to gesture to another of his fellow genin.

At this point, the Mist Shinobi excused himself, citing the need for another drink (and in actuality regretting that he'd asked anything). Naruto laughed, definitely knowing the real reason for the man's sudden departure. But at that point, before he could even think to call something encouraging after him, a rather flustered-looking Kazekage suddenly appeared at Naruto's elbow, which surprised Naruto more than anything else had that evening. Gaara's poker face was _legendary, _after all. "Naruto-kun," he greeted, "have you seen my brother and sister anywhere?"

"Not recently, no." Naruto studied his friend with concern he didn't bother to conceal. "Why do you ask?"

The Kazekage, the infamous Gaara of the Desert, merely shook his head, pressing the heel of his hand into his left eye. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Naruto asked as he and Gaara detached from the wall and began sifting through guests, looking for Gaara's older siblings. Mercifully, there weren't a great many people still here at this hour. It was getting rather late, for the older crowd. Most of the sensei here had already given up and gone back to their hotel rooms, telling their squads that hangover or no hangover, they still were training the next day, dammit.

Gaara let out a massive sigh, now pressing two fingers into his temple. "The rather large sort… Kankurō! There you are. Where's Temari?"

Gaara's older brother Kankurō was Gaara's opposite in a great many ways, least of which was not appearance. Kankurō was a good head taller than his frail-looking younger brother, had a penchant for black clothing, cat ears, and purple kabuki makeup, and toted around a mummified-looking package on his back (dubbed "Crow"). Not to mention, Kankurō had received most of the good-naturedly mischievous genes in the family.

"Temari? No idea. Why?"

The look Gaara shot Kankurō's way could quite possibly have tempered steel. It was only out of habit that Kankurō flinched—only habit, you hear! "We have… a _situation… _outside."

"Okay, Gaara, I know you're not naturally loud and all, but _hell, _brother, would it kill you to speak up a bit? What did you just…?"

"What sort of situation?" interrupted a feminine voice.

Gaara, Naruto, and Kankurō all turned as one. The oldest of the Sand Siblings had arrived on the scene, it seemed. And not a moment too soon. "Gaara won't elaborate," Naruto informed her.

Temari was a first class kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Sand, and rather _very_ scary, if you asked Naruto or her brothers. She wore her blonde hair in four spiky ponytails, the sort of smirk that advertised she was plotting your downfall (or quite possibly that of the man beside you), and had a giant fan threaded through the sash about her waist—her choice weapon in combat. Was it a tad ridiculous? Yes. Did she still kick ass with it? Also yes.

Temari glanced towards the Kazekage. "Gaara, what…?"

But Gaara only shook his head. "Not here. Come on." He gestured for his older siblings to follow him, and they did so, confused as all get out but under direct orders. Even if the Kage was only their little brother, an order was an order.

Naruto found Sakura a few minutes later, and she wasted no time. "What did Gaara walk in looking so flustered about?" she asked, then paused. "Err, the Kazekage-sama…?"

Naruto waved off the title. "He didn't say, just asked if I'd seen his siblings anywhere."

"Hmm." Sakura had seen the councilman tap Gaara on the shoulder earlier, and seen the worried look on his face while they disappeared out of the room. "I have a bad feeling about this, Naruto…"

He clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't be such a downer, Sakura. Your forehead will stay all scrunched up like that."

She hit him twice in the shoulder—once for the comment, and once for the forehead part.

"I mean," Naruto elaborated, "Kankurō and Temari don't seem so worried about it. How bad could it be?"

Very bad, as it turned out, because when the Sand Siblings reappeared in the main room with their former sensei (the councilman who had started this whole mess) in tow, they bypassed speaking with anyone and, instead, went to the table at the back end of the room. Gaara felt no shame in delivering the following speech from atop said table. He was short, all right? Give a guy a break…

The young Kazekage drew in breath to shout, then paused and nearly slapped himself for his own idiocy. His was the voice of the dark desert winds; there was _zero _chance he'd be heard over this crowd until they shut up. He glanced to his siblings, silently asking for one of them to call the room to attention.

Temari did the honors. "_Attention! COULD WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION FOR JUST A MOMENT, PLEASE?!"_

Immediately, the room was silenced. Gaara nodded to his sister in thanks, then squared his shoulders and turned to face the crowd. "I regret to inform you all of this, but I have been left with no other choice." Gaara drew in a breath, seemingly oblivious to the ominous silence he'd just created. "Outside, a sandstorm is about to overtake the village. It… wait a moment!" He held up his hands in a gesture for peace, but the inhabitants of Sunagakure could only associate the gesture with his sand jutsu and flinched in remembered terror. "This is hardly an uncommon occurrence; none of you are in any danger here in my home.

"However…" Gaara drew in a breath. "…I cannot, in good conscience, allow anyone outside in the present circumstances." The rumbling that overtook the room was loud and unhappy. They couldn't leave? Couldn't go home? It was a testament to the young Kazekage that his face remained impassive to the shouts he was receiving. "Therefore, you are all, of course, welcome to stay here as guests of my family." As if there was anything else he _could_ do, but have them sleep here.

"For your ease and convenience," Gaara continued, "as well as for the impartiality of the exams, sleeping quarters have been divided by hidden village. So…" He turned to Kankurō, who slipped him a scroll that had been written not even ten minutes ago by his hand. "Shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Rain, you are welcome to stay in the rooms on the top floor." By which, of course, it was meant that they _had _to. "Those from the Village Hidden by Rocks, you will be in the living area to my left. Those from the Village Hidden in the Mist, the living area to my right. Those from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, you will be in the basement. And any Sand Shinobi will be sleeping in this very room." Gaara gestured to the floor to emphasize his point.

Temari took over for her brother at that point. "Ladies, you are of course welcome to borrow more comfortable clothing from me, and gentlemen, likewise from my brothers." This had been a black-tie affair, after all. "And shinobi, we ask that you would please leave your weapons in the Kazekage-sama's room for the evening. No harm will come to them, and he will lock the door himself as soon as everyone is accounted for."

Kankurō smiled ruefully at the looks they were getting at that. "This is merely a precaution, we can assure you. Shinobi have been killed in the past before chūnin exams, however…" The rest of his statement was unspoken: _and it's not about to happen again under our watch._

"Is there anything we have not addressed?" The Kazekage asked the rumbling room.

"Kazekage-sama?" came a quiet voice from some point midway back. Gaara nodded to him, and the man continued. "If it's only a sandstorm… could you not control it?"

Gaara was silent for a good long moment—just long enough to make the room uneasy—before he smiled ruefully. "Even I am not that good, I'm afraid."

-)

"Well, this is not so bad," Rock Lee commented to his fellow Leaf Shinobi as they settled down in the basement of the Kazekage's residence. He was easily the most identifiable in their group, what with the green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers, the black bowl cut and extremely bushy eyebrows, and the overtly formal way of speaking. "Right, guys?"

The Shinobi of the Leaf Village had more or less broken up by squad. Teammates sharing sleeping space wasn't out of the question for shinobi—what else did you do on missions, after all? And so the boy/girl problem was essentially a non-issue, particularly since everyone's weapons were locked away in the Kazekage's room and the balance of power left was pretty much even. Not that any self-respecting ninja _needed _weapons to take down opponents, Taijutsu did just fine. (They sure as hell sped things up, though.) The Konoha Eleven—for that was who remained, after all their sensei had left for the night—had arranged their sleeping bags and blankets in a large circle around a kerosene lamp that Kankurō had dug up from somewhere, evenly spacing themselves out in a defensive stance that was habit and also irrelevant.

His attempts to be positive were shot down, as usual, by his teammate, Neji Hyūga. "We're in a _basement, _Lee."

Well, 'basement' was a tad generous of a term. This was essentially a cellar, although the walls and floor had been plastered with adobe to give the room shape in the shifting desert sands. The Konoha Eleven (mostly Kiba Inuzuka and Chōji Akimichi) had pushed most of the crates against the walls, leaving the room essentially empty. Currently, Kiba's nin-dog Akamaru was sitting atop one of the shorter crates and washing himself, but other than that, most everyone ignored them.

"It's an honor to be down here, in Suna," offered a female voice from the door. "It's the coolest room in the house."

The Sand Siblings had returned, each with an armful of blankets scrounged up from somewhere in the house. This was the largest group of remaining shinobi, and thus had taken the most scrounging to come up with blankets and spare clothing for. Neji and Lee immediately went to relieve the Sand Siblings of their burdens and distribute them accordingly.

"Is everyone all right?" Gaara asked, sounding less like the Kazekage and more like their old sort-of friend.

Nods from around the room, but then poor Hinata Hyūga blushed something fierce and stuttered out, "I… um, well…"

Hinata was a dreadfully shy wisp of a girl, and as a Hyūga, had the same brown hair (though hers was kept much shorter) and lavender Byakugan eyes as her cousin, Neji. Unlike Neji, however, Hinata was _not _so very confident in her skills and abilities, and spoke with a most unfortunate stutter.

"Hmm?" Temari called to her. "Speak up, would you kindly?"

"Never mind," Hinata mumbled into her fingers. She had a nervous habit of bringing her index finger to her lips when speaking.

"Go on, Hinata," Kiba encouraged with a small smile. He was on her squad and knew she needed to be pushed a bit sometimes.

Face aflame, Hinata made her way over to where the Sand Siblings stood. "Um, Temari-san… th-thank you so m-much for letting me borrow your clothes, but…" Here, Hinata tugged at the collar of the sleeping shirt she'd borrowed from the Sand Kunoichi, which she currently had to hold closed. "…they don't fit."

Suddenly, Temari realized why the girl's face was aflame. Unfortunately, the answer wasn't going to help much. "Not a problem," Temari told her with an older-sisterly smile in the hopes that it would embarrass her less. "Gaara, could you find her a shirt to borrow?"

And that's when it hit everyone else, too. Temari was much better endowed than the Hyūga girl—to the point that her small-framed younger _brother_ was closer to the same size. "Sure," Gaara answered, face impassive even though there was no way he'd missed the realization. "Come on, Hinata-san."

Hinata followed him back up the stairs, and Kankurō called out, "Everyone else set, then?"

Shikamaru Nara glanced around the room, naturally taking charge. "As well as can be, thank you, Kankurō-san." Already a chūnin with commanded missions under his belt, Shikamaru was more natural a leader than he liked to admit. He was tall and thin, wore his brown hair in a spiky half-topknot, and known to be the laziest recruit in a long time, when life and death weren't in the balance. He was a loyal shinobi, however, and the resident genius of the Leaf Village.

Kankurō smirked at the tone, however. "It isn't so bad here, you know. In the summer, when even the nights are really hot, Temari, Gaara, and I sleep down here sometimes."

"I agree with Kankurō-san and Lee-san," Ino Yamanaka said with a bright smile. "I think it's kind of fun, personally. Almost like a sleepover." Ino was a talented kunoichi with blonde hair kept in a ponytail, blue eyes, and a temper almost as quick as Sakura's. She had a penchant for blunt honesty, a talent for keeping her teammates in line, and a deep and abiding love of gossip.

"It was an _accident, _Ino," Shikamaru called in her direction, sounding _this close _to whining. "Stop romanticizing it."

But Ino was already off on an idea. "Oh! You know what we should do?"

"No doubt you'll tell us anyway?" Chōji Akimichi commented under his breath to Shikamaru. Chōji was a kind of portly for a shinobi, with wild brown hair barely kept in check by a forehead protector, swirled, Akimichi markings on his cheeks, and the habit of never stopping eating. Even now, Chōji was munching on a bag of potato chips from his bag.

Shikamaru stifled a laugh as Ino said excitedly, "We should play Give and Take!"

The idea was met with mixed feelings, from Shikmaru's "Ino, that's a _girl _thing!" to Kiba's "Ah, that's only fun when everyone's drunk!" to Tenten's "That's a _brilliant _idea!"

From across the room, Neji laughed. "For once, Kiba-san, I agree with you."

Kiba's barking laughter was cut short by his teammate, Shino Aburame. "And what do you know of getting drunk?" he inquired of Neji.

Shino was a bug master of the Aburame clan, and for the sake of his teammates who were not of said clan, wore a long trench coat at almost all times. His hair was brown and spiky, and he almost always hid behind the collar of his coat and his sunglasses.

Neji cracked a smile. "More than you, I should say, Shino-san."

More laughter from the assembled Shinobi, even Kankurō and Temari, who hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. "No, we should do it," Sakura agreed with Ino. "I mean, what else would we do—sleep?"

There was some murmured agreement at that. "You know," Kankurō said, testing the waters, "if you need a drink to get you going, such things can be arranged."

"You guys should play too!" Tenten said to him. "It's more fun with more people."

"We…" Temari began, only to be cut off by the re-arrival of her younger brother and Hinata Hyūga (who was now wearing one of Gaara's mesh shirts with another cotton shirt over that. Needless to say, it fit much better).

"Play what?" Gaara asked confusedly—almost a bit suspiciously, frankly.

"Give and Take," Ino repeated. "It's like Truth or Dare. Come on, Kazekage-sama, Kankurō-san and Temari-san already agreed to play it with us!"

They had done no such thing, but Temari was already laughing and lowering herself into a spot in the circle. Kankurō was not far behind (and not because Temari tripped him, or anything…). Shino and Hinata hurried apart to make room for the Sand Siblings, and it did not go unnoticed that Neji moved his nest of blankets next to his cousin's—a buffer between her and Kankurō.

"Seriously, though," Kiba added, "we're gonna need some social lubricant, here."

The corner of Gaara's was twitching as he tried not to smile. "If you're serious, Kiba-san, such things can be arranged." He echoed his older brother unwittingly, and that's how the rest of the room knew the Sand Siblings weren't joking.

"Are you even _legal _to drink, Kazekage-sama?" Chōji asked from across the room.

Gaara actually did crack a smirk at that. "Does it matter?" The room had to agree that no, it did not, when you were a Kage. "Anyway, hold on. I'll be right back."

Kiba was immediately on his feet. "You want some help carrying anything?"

Gaara blinked twice, again giving away his surprise with such a simple gesture. "Actually, yes. Thank you, Kiba-san."

"We'll go check on the rest of our guests," Temari said to the room, gesturing to her brothers, "and be back in a minute." She and Kankurō rose to their feet like specters rising out of the desert sands.

And as the Sand Siblings split to go do their duties and the Konoha Eleven rearranged themselves (and their blankets) to make room for their newest additions, everyone wondered just what in the hell Ino Yamanaka had gotten them into.


	2. The Eleven o'clock Hour

**Hey all, hope this chapter finds you well :) And as always, thanks muchly to all of my wonderful readers and lurkers.**

**Onward.**

**-)**

"So," Ino began from her standing position in the middle of the circle of blanket nests and sleeping bags, "now that everyone's here, let's go over the rules so everyone's clear, okay?" She was beaming; everyone had agreed to play! "Give and Take is pretty simple. Someone will ask the circle a question, and you can choose to answer it or not. But if you do, you have to answer honestly, and the rest of the room has to respect your story."

"So theoretically," Shikamaru put forward, "someone could go the whole game without answering a question."

Ino wagged a finger at her former squad-mate. "You wish, Shikamaru-kun! No, when you play Give and Take, you sit in a circle, and whoever is across from you has to keep tabs on you. If they see that you haven't been answering, they can call you out on it. And _if _they call you out on it, you _have _to answer the question. So…" Ino took up her position in the circle again. "Everyone say hello to your partner! Naruto-kun, care to do the honors?" Fourteen pairs of eyes flicked up and across the circle at once, determining whom they would be keeping tabs on for the duration of the evening.

"I've got Gaara-kun," Naruto called out, waving to the other demon vessel, who was shaking his head and trying not to laugh.

"And I've got Naruto-kun," Gaara returned. It was tradition for partners to acknowledge each other at the start of the game. Redundant? Perhaps a tad, but as Kiba had pointed out, this game was often played drunk. It kept things easier later in the evening.

"I have Kankurō-san," Sakura called from her spot on Naruto's left. She let out a small laugh. "I think." Kankurō had returned downstairs fresh-faced and wearing a loose sleeping shirt and shinobi pants, no head covering at all. It had taken the Konoha Eleven a moment to realize who, exactly, he was. Especially since his puppets were locked in the Kazekage's room alongside Temari's fan and Gaara's gourd.

Kankurō only smiled in return. "And I have Sakura-san."

"I have Neji-san," Ino said with a smile, though inwardly she shivered. The Hyūga eyes always gave her the creeps, even when it was just Hinata. From her cousin the prodigy…

Neji shrugged. "And I have Ino-san."

On Ino's left was Shikamaru, who let out a massive sigh and muttered something about this whole thing being 'such a drag' under his breath. Ino jabbed him in the ribs, and he said, louder, "I have Hinata-san."

"And I have Shikamaru-san," Hinata returned from behind her fingers. And not for the first time, Kiba reached over and tugged her hands away from her face.

Chōji was laughing at the exchange across the circle. "I have Kiba-kun."

Kiba retracted his hand when realized the whole circle was staring. It wasn't that he was embarrassed; he just didn't want everyone looking at poor Hinata. "And I have Chōji-kun."

On Chōji's left was Shino, who for the first time in living memory had taken off his sunglasses in the presence of other people. There was very little light down here in the basement, just the kerosene lamp and the spotty moonlight filtering in through the windows, and he wanted to be sure he was seeing things clearly. "I have Tenten-san."

Tenten was smiling—but then, she always was. "And I have Shino-san."

On Shino's left was Temari, the last in the circle to open the game. "I have Lee-san."

Internally, Lee could only think about how he'd rather keep tabs on Sakura all night. Nevertheless, he stated with a smile and a thumbs-up, "I have Temari-san."

Ino glanced around the room, and nodded. "Okay, now everyone, huddle up."

There was some grumbling at that, and a "Seriously, Ino-chan?" from Sakura, but nevertheless, everyone stood with varying degrees of swiftness and walked to the center of the room. Ino stuck out her hand over the kerosene lamp, and thirteen other scarred shinobi hands reached out and slapped themselves into a pile.

"Repeat after me," Ino ordered, and everyone nodded in confirmation. "I, Ino, do solemnly pledge…" Everyone repeated her, replacing her name with their own. "…that on my honor as a Shinobi…" The most important thing to any self-respecting ninja, which was how the rest of the room knew she was serious. "…I will not repeat what has been said here tonight without the permission of the secret's owner…" The drone that followed each sentence was like one voice, not thirteen. "…It has been stated with full faith and confidence in me…" Again, the thirteen-voices-that-were-one. "…and I will not betray a friend."

They reclaimed their hands and padded back to their spots. And it seemed that the atmosphere had changed with that oath, becoming heavier yet freer, and every word spoken was more intense, more dramatic. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was the stories that would be told, or maybe it was just the people, but many years later, the participants would say that they felt safe, sharing these secrets. It didn't matter that they didn't know each other very well, and it didn't matter that some were from a different village. These shinobi trusted each other that night, for better or for worse.

"One more thing before we begin," Ino added, choosing her words carefully. "I think we should drop the honorifics, just for tonight." A shocked murmur ran through the room—what Ino was suggesting was incredibly rude. "Wait!" she held her hands up. "Just hear me out, okay?"

"Go on," Gaara encouraged, his arms folded across his sternum. He looked strange, sitting like that without the gourd on his back.

"We're all shinobi of equal merit, right?" Ino said, and the group called out its affirmations. "I mean, we're not of equal rank, all of us, but we're all equal in strength of spirit…"

"…Which is all that really matters," Sakura finished out for her, quietly. Every sensei in every village taught that.

Ino nodded. "Exactly. So, since we're all equals here, I say we drop the honorifics. We aren't Kazekage-sama…" She gestured to Gaara. "…Naruto-san…" To the Nine-Tailed fox's host. "…and Sakura-chan." To the pink-haired kunoichi. "We're just… _people._ Friends, even.Kiba, and Temari, and Lee!" She gestured to each in turn. "So what do you say?"

Maybe it was the beer talking, but Neji called out, "Yes, all right." And the rest of the room wasn't far behind him. "We've thrown the rest of propriety out the window, anyway."

"Oh, don't be such a downer, Neji-k…" Tenten cut herself off, clapping a hand to her mouth.

"This will take some getting used to," Shino noted, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Chōji jabbed him in the ribs to wake him up.

"Alright, so." Ino clapped her hands together, bringing the circle of assembled shinobi to attention. "I'll ask the first question, okay? Give me a moment…" The first question, traditionally, was innocuous, nothing too difficult. Most people tended to answer it, if only to keep themselves safe for the next few rounds. Ino's face suddenly brightened: "Okay, who's got a funny training story?" Laughter immediately arose from the group of assembled Shinobi. It didn't get much more innocuous than that, in a group of ninja.

"Okay, I've got one," Naruto announced, and the room's occupants subconsciously straightened. "So, there was this one time that Sakura, Sasuke, and I all decided that we were going to see what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask." This was met with howling laughter, particularly from Kiba and Akamaru. "Actually…" Naruto paused. "…this was shortly before Sasuke went rogue, so it must've been shortly after the chūnin exams in Konoha the one year…" Temari flushed red under the looks she and her brothers were receiving, while Kankurō averted his gaze and Gaara suddenly found a stray thread in his blanket vastly entertaining.

"Anyway," Naruto continued in an effort to bring the focus back to his story, "so first we decide we'll buy him lunch—have to take off the mask to eat, right?" Nods of agreement from the rest of the room. "Well, first he gets snow dumped on him from somewhere—somebody practicing ninjutsu, I think—and then the bowl tips over, and _then _Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji over there decide to barge in!" Laughter from the squad in question. "And, believe it, Kakashi-sensei was already finished by the time we stopped fighting."

"No way!" Lee exclaimed.

Naruto nodded, a grin across his face. "Believe it! So, then we go on a mission, right? And he keeps his mask on in the _hot spring, _even!" The blond shinobi was shaking his head, and Sakura was laughing so hard, she had tears in her eyes. These were memories of happier times, happier people. "So we 'borrow' some clothes from some passing ninja to pose as them—and he _still _doesn't fall for it!" Naruto himself was chuckling, now. "So we're trudging back, and finally we just ask, 'what's under the mask, Kakashi-sensei?' And he goes, 'oh, well, why didn't you ask?' and yanks it down."

"So what _is _under Kakashi-sensei's mask?" Chōji asked, leaning forward despite himself.

Sakura and Naruto both groaned and answered, "_Another mask."_

It was several minutes before the room calmed down enough for someone else to speak. "I have one," Tenten called, and the room deferred to the talented kunoichi. "So, there was this one time that Gui-sensei, Neji, Lee, and I were all out to dinner—celebrating my birthday, maybe? I don't remember—and anyway, since it was a celebration and all, Gui-sense ordered some sake for himself."

"Oh, lord," Neji said with a laugh, even as Lee buried his face in his hands.

Tenten had a wide grin. "And everything's going completely fine, until Lee accidentally takes a swig of Sake. He was sitting next to Gui-sensei, and mixed up their glasses…" She shook her head.

"So what happened?" Shikamaru prodded.

Tenten was still just shaking her head. "Lee went _ballistic_. Started kicking down tables and shouting slurred nonsense. Apparently, he mastered a whole new style of taijutsu—the Drunken First, or Loopy Fist, as Gui-sensei calls it."

Gaara's eyes widened in shock. "I… I think I've seen that. When I stepped in during Lee's fight with Kimimaro…"

Lee was an impressive shade of crimson, at this point. "You, um, _did_, Gaara."

The youngest of the Sand Siblings choked on his own laughter, unable to make a sound as Tenten continued, "It took both Gui-sensei and Neji to restrain Lee, and even then, I had to run in front of them down the street, shouting for people to get out of the way…" She was still laughing softly. "Looking back, I think it's hilarious. But then, it was rather intimidating—and kind of infuriating, frankly."

Temari tapped a finger on her jawline, as her thumb rested on the opposite side. "That explains why he didn't want anything to drink."

Lee nodded sheepishly. "It is better this way, Temari."

"Pretty good," Kiba commended the girl in an effort to move things along, "but I think I can top it."

Tenten made a sweeping gesture with her hand, which was detracted from somewhat by the decidedly un-classy bottle in it. "By all means, Kiba."

Kiba cracked a grin, took a swig from the bottle sitting near his foot, then began, "So, the day an Inuzuka receives his companion is a _huge _deal. It's like a coming-of-age thing. Like, 'you're old enough to look after this guy now, both of you; don't muck this up.'" Kiba's hand absentmindedly went to Akamaru's head, petting the nin-dog who was curled in a ball in his lap. "So, I'm…" Kiba paused to do the math. "…maybe eight or nine, and I'm out in the fields in the Inuzuka compound when I heard my mom and my big sister, Hana, calling my name. Next thing I know, my mom has set this white nin-dog puppy on the ground and the little guy is heading for me. 'This is Akamaru,' she told me, 'and you're going to be taking care of him from now on.'

"So you know, I'm stoked and drop to a knee to offer a hand out, the way you're supposed to. And Akamaru goes, sniffs it, and wags his tail. Hana smiles and goes, 'I think he likes you, Kiba.' So I pick him up, and what does Akamaru do?" Kiba threw an incensed hand in the air. "He _pees _on my face!"

The room cracked up at that. "Well," Shino called to his comrade with a grin, "that's at least _one_ good thing about having chakra bugs." Temari subconsciously shifted closer to Gaara upon the reminder of what lived under Shino's skin.

Hinata giggled at her comrades. "They d-don't pee on you?"

Shino nodded to her, a grin on his face. "Exactly."

"Alright, here's another one," Kankurō offered up after a too-lengthy silence. "This was when I was… I don't know, like nine or ten, which means Temari was like twelve or thirteen. Anyway, so it's recess at the academy here in Sunagakure, and I walk outside to find that these three big guys have all ganged up on Temari." He paused here to clap his older sister on the back. Gaara had to duck out of the way.

Temari snorted, then took a swig from the bottle near her foot. "I had them, brother, and you know it."

Kankurō only smirked. "So what's the first thing that happens when one of them tries to throw Temari around? Simple; she ducks under his arm and tackles his buddy to the ground. And now they're _all _pissed and I can just _see_ this going south, so I run over there, and I'm like, 'Temari, hold on! I've got a better idea!' And she just gives me this look that asks-without-asking if I'm mentally challenged…" Gaara demonstrated the offending look in his brother's direction, to general amusement.

"Next thing those boys know," Kankurō continued once he was sure he had everyone's attention, "they're strung up in the tree in front of the academy by their ankles." The room had already begun to laugh, but Kankurō held up his hands for peace. "No, wait, that isn't even the best part yet?"

Ino cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "It isn't?"

Kankurō shook his head. "Nah, that's what happened next. See, as soon as we were out of the tree, who should walk by but our father, the Fourth Kazekage himself, and a couple of foreign dignitaries!" An unnatural hush fell across the room at the news. "So, father looks at me, looks at Temari, looks to our handiwork, and back to us again.

"So, you know, I'm standing there with my knees knocking, and Temari's eyes are half the size of her head, and our father just stands there a moment in silence." Kankurō paused to draw in a breath, and the room didn't even seem to notice he'd only done it to draw out the drama. "Then he goes, 'it's good to see the Academy hasn't changed any,' _and keeps walking!"_

Ino was wiping tears out of her eyes, she was laughing so hard, and she wasn't the only one. Once the room had quieted down to a reasonable level, the assembled ninja waited for someone else to pipe up. When no one did, Ino called out, "Okay, someone else ask a question!" Ino, it seemed, got bubblier as her drink did.

There was a momentary lull while everyone racked their brains for a decent question (after all, whoever did the asking was, as a general rule, immune from answering it). Then, Shikamaru let out a massive sigh. "You guys are such a drag." Another one. "All right, so who's got a childhood nickname?"

"Oh! I do!" Lee practically sprang to his feet as he broke out into huge grin and a thumbs up. "I am called the Handsome Devil of the Leaf Village!"

Silence, then—"Lee, no one calls you that but you," Tenten reminded him.

Lee deflated like a week old New Year's balloon and sank back into his seat amid general laughter. Sakura and Ino, meanwhile, had been subconsciously clenching their fists and glancing to each other. Ino had cocked a questioning eyebrow, to which Sakura had nodded, and then they both drew in a breath and said, at once:

"Billboard Brow."

"Ino-Pig."

Neji winced at that. "How'd _that _come about?"

Sakura sighed. "Let's just say we were ruthless while we went after Sasuke Uchiha, all right?" Ino nodded her agreement.

A specter came over the Konoha Eleven, and so to break it before it settled too deeply, Kankurō offered, "They called me Doll Boy for a long-ass time." He immediately buried his nose in his bottle at the confession.

Chōji's fists were clenched into tight balls, his half-eaten bag of chips lay forgotten near his own bottle. "They called me _fatso." _His voice was little more than a growl.

Kiba winced, then smiled grimly, ruefully. "Sadly, Chōji, I can top that, too." He let out a breath, and Akamaru whimpered in solidarity. "They called me bitch-dog." Kiba was practically snarling. A few people glanced to Akamaru to make sure the dog himself hadn't said it.

"I don't mean to sound ignorant," Temari said, leaning forward a bit from her spot in the circle so that she could talk to Kiba more-or-less directly, "but why are you so offended by that?"

Kiba loosed another breath. "A _female_ dog is a bitch," he said, as though that explained everything. At the looks he was getting, Kiba threw up a hand. "Look, calling a guy a woman is insulting, right?" Unnecessary nods from around the room. "It's the same idea. Only, to an Inuzuka, calling a male a bitch-dog is like…" Kiba made a growling noise in the back of his throat as he searched for the right analogy. "…like calling him a pussy, while also stating that you don't respect his combat skills and don't respect him as an opponent, and also stating that he isn't worthy of what makes him a man."

"Shit, Kiba," Shino said, shocking everyone at the vulgarity. "I had no idea it meant all that."

"W-who called you that?" Hinata asked, her face set into hard lines.

Kiba waved her off. "It doesn't matter who. All that matters is that _I put them in the hospital four times in one week."_

Shino's grin could be heard in his voice. "That's how you do it, my friend." He glance about the room when he realized he'd drawn attention to himself. He withheld a sigh, and said, "They called me a freak."

Nartuo's fists were clenched at his sides, personally offended on his friends' behalf. In an effort to distract himself, he called over to his partner, "Hey Gaara, you haven't said anything yet."

Gaara's glare slowly came to rest on his blond friend before he let out a tired exhale and dropped it again. "The nicknames I received as a child are unfit to be repeated in this company," he said, and maybe it was the beer talking, but Sakura could've sworn his voice sounded even raspier than usual. Had she voiced the thought aloud, Ino, Neji, and Lee all would have agreed with her.

"Surely there… there's _one _you could r-repeat?" Hinata asked.

Gaara loosed a worn breath in the general direction of the ceiling and said, bluntly, harshly, "They called me Monster."

The room was blanketed in silence yet again, and they all seemed to realize that this game had just suddenly taken a rather serious turn. As such, a tad bit more serious of a question was required. And so Chōji, in an attempt to break some of this oppressive silence, called out, "Damn, when did we get so serious?"

There was a small, mirthless laugh from Temari at that. "That isn't a question for the game, Chōji. Try again."

He smiled sheepishly, kind of annoyed with himself for putting himself in this position, but having been on a team with Ino and Shikamaru all his life, he took it in stride. "Okay… I guess I have a question, but only a few of us could answer it."

"Shoot," Tenten urged.

Chōji's glance flicked up and over to where the two Hyūga were sitting. "What's it like having the Byakugan?"


	3. The Midnight Hour

**Hoo, it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the lack of updates. This story is not turning out to be as easy as I thought it would be. It's just as much fun though, when it decides to be written :) Hope you enjoy. This is going to get a lot more intense.**

**And to the non-PM crowd:**

**Serendipity: Not having the Akatsuki means they won't be quite as cool with it as they are in shippuden, but you know, they've known Naruto was a jinchūriki, even if they've sort of conveniently forgotten, and same with Gaara. **

**E: As you wish :)**

**SkittleZ: Here, have an update :) I'm glad you enjoy it!**

**-)**

Both Neji and Hinata were visibly shocked. "What's it like?" Hinata asked, rubbing her eyes just on principle.

"As a weapon," Neji said from his vantage point, "it's wonderful. I would go into battle with nothing less. But as a kekki genkai... well, frankly, the Byakugan kind of sucks."

The confusion in the room was just a few steps shy of palpable. "That… doesn't make any sense," Naruto said, brow furrowed deeper than the valleys of Suna.

"He means that the Byakugan is a great ninja tool," Hinata elaborated, blushing a furious crimson. "But the way it structures our clan…" She sighed. "…It's awful."

"You mean the branches?" Shikamaru called over.

Both Neji and Hinata nodded. "Yes, exactly," Neji told him.

"There are branches of the Akimichi, though," Chōji commented thoughtfully, "and it doesn't mean a thing. What makes the Hyūga so different?"

Neji and Hinata exchanged a look before Neji spoke. "My father was Hinata's father's twin brother, younger by moments." Neji shook his head. "As a result, he was the head of the branch of the Hyūga clan."

"And my father," Hinata elaborated, "being the older son, is the head of the main clan." She drew in a deep breath. "As his oldest, I am the heir—or at least, I was."

"You _were?" _Naruto asked, brow furrowed even deeper.

Hinata nodded miserably, her crooked finger back in its spot in front of her lips. "My father didn't find me a worthy heir. I'm too soft, he said, too kind-hearted. So my little sister is, now. And I… well, I became a shinobi."

"We have more fun, anyway," Kiba told her with a grin, as Akamaru nudged her beer bottle a little closer to her. There were maybe three sips taken out of it.

"And you, Neji?" Temari asked. "Why are you a shinobi?"

Neji grinned despite himself. "My Byakugan… it was too powerful for me not to become one."

"He's being modest," Tenten piped up. "They say it's the best in all the clan."

The room was looking at him with new interest, now. "Is it really?" Sakura asked quietly.

Neji's fists tightened at his sides. "So they say."

"You don't seem happy about that," Shikamaru commented carefully.

"And why would I be?" Neji whirled on him. "Do you know what it means to be of the _branch family?" _The way he said it, he could have been cursing. Kankurō shrank back from the irate Hyūga prodigy, but Neji was already on his feet. "Here, I'll tell you—it means _this!" _And he yanked off his forehead protector.

A green, whirling design had been etched across his forehead like a tattoo, ending in an X over the knot of frustration of the bridge of his nose. The noise that his forehead protector made when it crashed against the floor brought the room sharply back into focus. "It means I am forever a _servant_ to the main branch," Neji snarled, beginning to pace the inside of the circle like a caged beast. "It means I am honor and duty-bound to simply just _serve. _It means that I can be tortured on the whim of any main branch scion, for _any _reason."

"What _is _that?" Ino asked quietly, eyes wide.

"It's a curse mark," Neji bit off. "It is _fate _burned into my skin." He pointed to it violently with one pale finger. "After all, I can't run from my forehead any more than I can from my destiny." He let out an angry exhale. "It is the mark of a bird in a cage, a being tied down to its own inescapable destiny."

"Neji…" Tenten tried.

Neji whirled on his teammate. "We are ultimately judged on what we cannot change," he added, with a tad less fire but a lot more bitterness. "What we cannot change, we must endure. It is the way of the world."

"We are not so different, brother," Hinata commented to her cousin, "are we?"

Neji's eyebrow shot up, pulling at the curse mark on his forehead. "I fail to see where you came up with that."

Hinata pulled her own hand away from her mouth this time. Kiba didn't even have the time to be proud of her before she was on her feet, making slow, even strides towards the kerosene lamp. "The clan… it hasn't been kind to either of us, Neji. You… you're too powerful for your family, and I…" She drew in a shuddering breath. "…I am not powerful enough."

"Don't talk like that, Hinata," Kiba and Shino said at once. They considered her something of a sister, after all.

"But it's true," she told them both. The air of an old argument was unfurling under their words. "But Neji, brother…" She shook her head. "You are suffering even worse than I, aren't you?" Neji was visibly taken aback, but Hinata wasn't finished. "The fate of the branches… it's eating you alive, isn't it?" She stood just before her cousin now, shorter but still holding her ground.

Neji bit back on his molars, and the next words out of his mouth were so quiet, had the room not already been watching in rapt attention, they would have missed them: "I will never be good enough."

Tenten and Lee's jaws both dropped, and the rest of the room was just as shocked at this confession from the prodigy. But it was Hinata who spoke: "Neither will I. And it is my _nindō, _my ninja way, that I will never go back on my word, and I will _never _give up." Naruto gave a startled jump at those words, but nobody noticed. They were too enthralled with the Hyūgas' argument. "So believe me when I say, I do not intend to let the clan walk all over me." She paused, considering something. "Don't you think, Neji, that it is about time _you _learned a new _nindō?"_

Neji studied her face a moment, looking for signs of dishonesty. But, upon finding none, he cracked a weak smile as he stooped to pick up his forehead protector. "Perhaps, sister."

The rising silence was "tactfully" broken by the Kazekage. "If you despite the main branch so much, Neji," Gaara commented over the lip of his bottle, "why did you move between Hinata and Kankurō?"

It was a testament to Gaara's ability to know where to stick the shuriken and Neji's inebriated state that the Hyūga prodigy looked like he'd physically had the wind knocked out of him at that comment. He recovered admirably, though. "The main branch may drive me _mad," _Neji elaborated, "and so may this mark…" He pointedly jabbed his curse mark, although he was in the process of tying his forehead protector back over it. "…but she's still family, and _he's _still a shinobi I don't know."

"I don't blame you," Kankurō assured him quietly. "I would do the same for Temari, if not for…" he cut himself off.

"If not for me," Gaara finished with his usual passivity.

Neither Kankurō nor Temari said anything at that, but the way the both of them studied their feet made it abundantly clear that their little brother wasn't lying.

"Since we're asking serious questions, and all," Sakura put forward as Neji and Hinata took their seats again, "I have another one." When she received affirming nods from the rest of the assembled shinobi, she continued, "I've always wondered—what's it like having a demon sealed within you?"

Temari and Kankurō went ash-pale at the question, and the former even made slashing motions at her throat. "Sakura, I _really _don't think you should be asking that," Kankurō said hurriedly, sounding terrified.

"No, it's all right," Naruto said, and for once in his life, he seemed rather subdued. "I don't mind. Do you, Gaara?"

From across the circle, the other _jinchūriki _shook his head. "No."

"See?" Naruto continued. "It's all good." He paused. "Gaara, do you want to…?"

"After you," Gaara insisted, his voice deadly soft to disguise how heavy his breathing had become thanks to Shukaku.

"God save us," Kankurō muttered, and Temari withdrew into a tight ball, her arms locked around her knees.

"Well," Naruto said, for once weighing his words before he spoke them, but as ever oblivious to the subtle changes in the atmosphere, "for me, heaving the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within me was…" He paused. "Actually, I think you all just hit the nail on the head."

"What?" Kiba asked, suspended in the motion of shifting Akamaru from one knee to the other. The nin-dog was getting bigger by the day; Kiba's knee was asleep. "What are you talking about, Naruto?"

Shikamaru sighed, shamed. "We all flinched at the mention of the Nin—the demon, in Naruto. Everyone except Gaara."

Naruto nodded, eyes uncharacteristically solemn. "That's how it's been, my whole life." The Leaf Shinobi each, one by one, lowered their heads in shame as their number one knuckleheaded ninja continued. "Except, no one's allowed to talk about it back home. So, growing up…" He drew in a breath that did not shake by sheer force of will. "…It was even worse. You all don't know what it's like—how could you possibly? To have no purpose in life; to not know why the old men spit on you when you duck into a store, or why the old women cross the road so they don't have to pass you on the street; to be forbidden to ask what that _thing _on your stomach is!" He was practically growing by this point.

"And there were always whispers—look, it's _that _kid; look, it's the Nine-Tailed _brat…" _This breath he drew shook, force of will or no. "Who are you to judge me, label me, call me _jinchūriki _and fear me—_what have I ever done to you?" _There were tiny, diamond-like tears forming in the corners of his eyes, but Naruto was stubbornly ignoring them and so was the rest of the room. "When was I anything other than a little kid? When was I ever the demon fox spirit they were so scared of? What gives them the right to curse me, _again?"_ He seemed to get a hold of himself, drawing in several shaking breaths before adding, "If not for the Third, I think the whole village might have just thrown me out into the forest and left me there. Gah, and don't even get me _started _on how many people want me dead for _killing the Fourth Hokage." _And there went his control again.

The room was shocked, not only at the raw fury emanating from their friend, but from the last thing he'd said. "You… what?" someone asked.

Naruto sighed, trying to get a grip on his anger. "I… I'm sorry. I've been trying not to explode like that so much anymore."

"Want you dead for _what?" _Shino choked out.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "The Fourth Hokage—that was my father, Minato Namikaze. He saved the village by sealing the Nine-Tails within me when I was a baby. But he died in the process. And so did my mother."

"My mother died when I was born," Gaara offered up quietly from across the circle. "For a long time, I assumed the voice of Shukaku in my head was actually her."

"That doesn't make any sense…" Shikamaru began despite himself.

"Actually," Tenten interrupted quietly, "it makes a _lot _of sense."

"But you know what's even worse than all of that?" Naruto asked, waving his hand behind him, indicating what he'd previously said. "Is that I grew up alone, yeah, no friends or family. But eventually _someone _cared—Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-Sensei, the Fourth, Sakura, Sasuke…" His voice broke on the last name. "But as we grew up, Gaara just became more alone."

All gazes in the room immediately pinned the redheaded jinchūriki in place. "What else would a monster do?" he inquired in a voice as gritty as the desert winds outside. "'Look, it's that _thing, _the monster; don't get too close! Leave the ball, his sand touched it…'" Gaara imitated the mocking voices of his childhood classmates, but dropped to his own cadence to continue. "I remember asking my Uncle Yashamaru what pain felt like once, because the damned sand wouldn't let me feel it. And you know what I discovered?" His voice grew in fury and bitterness as he spoke. "_I already felt it right here." _He thumped his right fist over the left side of his chest. His eyes raked the circle of assembled shinobi as though searching for something. "All because my father decided to seal the Shukaku within his unborn son."

"Explain the kanji," Temari prodded her younger brother quietly, without uncurling from her ball.

"This?" Gaara asked, jabbing a finger at the kanji for love embedded over his left eye. At Temari's almost imperceptible nod, Gaara continued, deathly quiet, "My Uncle Yashamaru was the one who looked after me when I was small. My father couldn't stand the sight of me, and besides, he didn't want me around Kankurō and Temari." Both of his siblings lowered their heads in shame. "But my Uncle attempted to assassinate me under my father's orders when I was… four or five."

A shocked gasp arose from the room. "Did he do it?" Ino asked, realizing belatedly that it was a stupid question; Gaara was still alive.

But no one commented on that. Gaara only replied, ruefully, "He tried. That was the first time I used the sand coffin…" He let out a worn sigh. "He begged me to 'please die,' told me that my mother named me Gaara as a testament to her undying _hatred _of Suna and her people, and told me that no one loved me—not even him. He raised me under orders." Gaara's face was tightening as he spoke, and both Sakura and Hinata were damn near tears. Naruto's were already silently dotting the dusty concrete at his feet.

But Gaara wasn't finished. "So, using the sand that wouldn't let me feel pain, I carved 'love' into my forehead." Gaara unnecessarily reached up and parted his bangs around the kanji. He knew his hair usually exposed it naturally, but he was just being sure. "I promised that I would love only myself, I would fight for only myself. To exist without a reason is the same as being dead. My purpose is to kill, to prove that I am alive, with a purpose. _I will not cease to exist." _

Gaara smiled ruefully—more just a twitch of his lips than a smile—at the reactions he was getting from various shinobiaround the room. "This is sounding familiar to you all, isn't it? That was the Gaara who fought in the chūnin exams all those years ago." He sighed, and Kankurō and Temari relaxed a bit when they realized Gaara had only been trying to get a reaction out of them all. "He still shows up, sometimes. Late at night, when I can't sleep—literally can't sleep, or Shukaku will take over my body—or when I hold the sand, frozen, in the moments before using sand coffin."

"He tried being friendly to everyone," Temari offered quietly, "a normal little kid. But the villagers… even though he was the Kazekage's son…"

"They hated him," Kankurō finished quietly. "_We _hated him," he added, even more quietly—to the point that even Kiba had to strain to hear him.

"What was it like growing up with him?" Chōji asked, gesturing to Gaara with his hand. His bag of chips lay forgotten near his own bottle; he was so engrossed in the current discussion.

Temari slowly raised her head to share a glance with Kankurō. Gaara studied his shaking hands, refusing to look at his older siblings. "It was difficult…" Temari began.

"It _sucked," _Kankurō interrupted flatly. He glanced about the room, gauging everyone's reaction, particularly Temari's. "Do you have any idea what being related to Gaara did to us?" He gestured from his sister to himself, and back again. "People were either terrified of us or they kissed the ground we walked on because it meant our father had _normal _children." Kankurō made vicious air quotes around the word 'normal.'

He threw back his head and loosed a worn sigh to the ceiling. He didn't look at anyone, least of all his younger brother, as he continued. "I hated Gaara; I hated him for a long time. He held us back from taking the chūnin exams until years after we should have; and on top of everything he did to us socially, he was_ terrifying. _I'd seen the sand coffin in action. It wasn't hard to imagine him using it on us. You know he once told me it was too bad he didn't even see me as his brother, because it didn't stop him from killing me should I get in his way?" Gaara pointedly ignored all the stares he was getting.

"And our father was obsessed with alternately training or eliminating the supposed 'ultimate weapon' of Sunagakure. He barely spared a passing thought for my training or for Temari's. I don't think he—our father, that is—was ever quite the same after mother died… Oh." Kankurō snapped his fingers, as though just now remembering something. "That was another reason I despised Gaara—he took our mother from us."

Kankurō sighed again, and brought his chin back down so he could survey the room. "I realize now, I was so _stupid."_

"It's all right," Gaara told him, his face deadpan as usual, "it's nothing new."

Kankurō slammed his fist into Gaara's shoulder—or rather, he would have, had the sand not sprang to attention to catch the blow. The fact that neither boy seemed fazed spoke volumes about how common an occurrence this was. "And you Leaf shinobi met me at the tail end of that part of my life. I think Naruto, Sakura, you guys found me picking a fight with your friend from the academy…?"

"Konohamaru," Sakura supplied with a small smile.

"No offense, Kankurō," Naruto added, "but that was pretty pathetic."

"I know," Kankurō replied mournfully. "I'd pick a fight with _anything _back then because I knew I couldn't fight him." He jerked a thumb at his little brother. "Both because I knew he'd kick my ass, and because I knew my father would, too."

"Damn right I would," Gaara muttered into his bottle, which caused Neji to snort into his.

In an effort to cover that up, Neji asked, "So what changed?"

Kankurō half-smiled. "After Gaara let loose with Shukaku at the chūnin exams of the Hidden Leaf…"

"After _Shukaku _let loose with Shukaku," Gaara interrupted.

"…I had him slung over my shoulders as we were escaping," Kankurō continued as though his brother hadn't spoken, "and I'm thinking 'wonderful. Here I am, second to my demon little brother _as ever…' _and you know what he did?"

Eleven heads adorned with Leaf forehead protectors shook themselves.

"He apologized," Kankurō finished, the weight of old shock still under his words. "Out of the blue, he _apologized_. And you know, I was so shocked, all I could think to say was 'don't mention it,' or something to that effect…"

"Gaara, what changed?" Tenten asked, leaning slightly forward now with the intensity in the room.

"Naruto beat me," Gaara said simply. "Here, I thought I was so strong, fighting for only myself, but he _beat _me—he beat _Shukaku_—because he wanted to save his friends, his village. Not even himself, his _friends." _He shook his head. "I couldn't fathom it. But I _wanted _to. I _wanted _to know why he could do that, why he _would_… And eventually I came up with something."

"Which was?" Ino asked.

Gaara's gaze flicked up. "I realized, I didn't want to be alone anymore. I wanted to mean something to someone. To share in the suffering, the sorrow, the _joy _of someone. And my siblings deserved an apology for the hell I put them through."

"What about you, Temari?" Shikamaru asked. "What was it like for you, growing up?"

She sighed. "I was terrified of Gaara. He used to lose control of the Shukaku, and to a lesser degree, his sand, all the time when he was a baby, a toddler. My own little brother, and I was _terrified _of him." Temari sat up a bit, resting her elbows on her knees, now. "But I wasn't like Kankurō. I couldn't hate him."

"Why not?" Shino asked, studying the kunoichi next to him with a newfound degree of attention. Not in a creepy (well, overly creepy. This _was _Shino) way, more just in an 'I've never really looked at you before' sort of way. Even so, Shikamaru did not look amused.

Temari sniffed loudly, and the room suddenly was made aware of how close to tears she was. "There's a picture of my mother and me," she began, her voice remarkably steady, "it used to be on our mantle, now it's on my bedside table. I'm a baby, and my mother is holding me, and I have my tiny little fist wrapped around her pointer finger." Temari held up her own to demonstrate.

"So, I was maybe six years old when this happened, but there was one Christmas Eve where our whole family was over, celebrating together. All my aunts, uncles, cousins… you get the idea." Temari drew in a breath. "But it got to be, maybe ten or eleven at night, and I wander upstairs for some reason or other, and when I get to the top of the stairs, I hear someone crying.

"So I follow the noise, and I realize, it's coming from Gaara's room. He's not even a year old yet, and my father had just left him in his crib the whole night. While Kankurō and I were downstairs, playing with our cousins, waiting for Father Christmas, here was Gaara, here was _our little brother, _upstairs, alone, _crying." _Her voice broke on the last word, and so did the dam holding back her tears.

But she continued despite them. "Now, my father had always told me not to go near Gaara; he's dangerous_, _after all. But what kind of a person just leaves a crying infant there?" Temari seemed to refuse to acknowledge she was crying at all. The tears fell silently onto the concrete floor, a matched set to Naruto's. "So I pick up him up. And I hold him here…" She mimed holding a baby close to her heart. "…trying to get him to stop crying. And he does, after a moment, and then he's just staring at me with those bright green eyes that used to take up half his head. And little Gaara grabs my finger. _This _finger." She held up her pointer finger. "And right then and there, I knew I would never him, no matter _what_ he did. Because how could I?" Her shoulders were racked with silent sobs. "We were the same."

A heavy silence fell over the basement. During it, Akamaru jumped off Kiba's knee and wandered around aimlessly, as though sniffing for the source of the tension in the room. He whined when he found nothing.

Gaara and Kankurō both had a hand on their sister's shoulders, trying to calm her down and failing dismally (because neither were particularly good at it). It wasn't until Sakura came across the circle, knelt in front of the Suna kunoichi, and held out a handkerchief that Temari could finally blow her nose and get a hold of herself.

"I have a question," Gaara asked the silent room.

"Shoot," said Ino immediately, as Sakura padded back across the floor.

"If Shukaku is my greatest flaw," Gaara asked steadily, despite how shaken he was internally at the last question, "what is yours?"


End file.
